Elias v. Rolling Stone USA

Facts:

A girl by the name of “Jackie” was a student at the University of Virginia (UVA) that was beaten and raped by several men who belonged to a fraternity house in 2012. Jackie faced victim blaming from the university when the crime was initially reported. The perpetrators were never found. The story resurfaced in 2014 when Rolling Stone journalist Sabrina Rubin Erdely sought to tell Jackie’s story and bring awareness to the sexual assault women face on college campuses (Benedikt, A., & Rosin, H., 2014). However, when writing the article, she did not reach out to those allegedly accused by Jackie and those mentioned in testimonies made by students interviewed. Erdely was invited to Slate’s DoubleX Gabfest podcast hosted by Rosin to further talk about the article. She went on to claim that she did “reach out” to perpetrators in more than one way (Coronel, S., Col, S., & Kravitz, D., 2015). Nicholas Elias, a student at UVA, was among those allegedly connected to the case. He was one of the men mentioned by Erdely. Elias filed suit for defamation. He claimed that the claims made damaged his reputation and caused him emotional distress (Elias v. Rolling Stone, 2017). She along with Rolling Stone faced backlash for not having checked their sources and interviewing those they accused.

Issue:

Key elements like the alleged perpetrator were not able to be verified by officials. The chain of events of the raping according to Jackie’s account could not be corroborated. Moreover, there was no evidence to even support the occurrence of a gang rape at all (Benedikt, A., & Rosin, H., 2014). Erdely and Rolling Stone did not fact check the information they received with the sources mentioned like the fraternity brothers accused or the fraternity itself. Then alleged on the podcast that she had reached out although that was later proven false.

Ruling:

The standard of proof was not upheld for the claims made on the podcast; thus, the court gave the defendant’s motion a dismissal. The suit was settled with Elias (Elias v. Rolling Stone, 2017). The podcasters were not held liable. Erdely did however face suit for defamatory statements made against Elias in the article and later on in 2016 from the UVA Dean, Nicole Eramo (CBS News, 2016).

Significance:

Calls to question the integrity of journalist and anyone who reports on “true facts” including podcasters. Fairness and accuracy are the most integral part of the foundation of a journalist. Serves as a good reminder to always report on the truth and nothing but the truth. So how you protect yourself as a podcaster from the words of your guests? You must be mindful of the entire truth of a case and fact check your sources.

Sources:

Benedikt, A., & Rosin, H. (2014, December 2). Why didn’t a Rolling Stone writer talk to the alleged perpetrators of a gang rape? Slate Magazine. https://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/12/sabrina_rubin_erdely_uva_why_didn_t_a_rolling_stone_writer_talk_to_the_alleged.html

CBS News. (2016, November 7). Uva Dean awarded $3M in Rolling Stone Magazine Case. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jury-awards-3-million-to-uva-administrator-in-rolling-stone-magazine-trial-nicole-eramo/

Coronel, S., Col, S., & Kravitz, D. (2015, April 5). Rolling Stone’s investigation: “a failure that was avoidable.”Columbia Journalism Review. https://www.cjr.org/investigation/rolling_stone_investigation.php

Elias v. Rolling Stone, 16-2465-cv, 2017. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/16-2465/16-2465-2017-09-19.html